Edwina Currie, the rumbustious former Tory minister and one-time lover of John Major, is on the move with her husband, John. The pair have put their home in the North Downs commuter belt on the market for £835,000 with Hamptons in Caterham, and are planning to move to the north, where they have family. They have lived for six years in the converted barn in South Nutfield, near Redhill, which has five bedrooms, solar panels and views over fields. Currie, 60, tells me they’ve found a new home with six bedrooms and a larger garden in the stunning hills of rural north Derbyshire, near where her daughter, Debbie, lives. Currie, MP for Derbyshire South until 1997, said: “We’re keen not to take on new mortgages at this stage, so we’re hoping simply to move and have some spare dosh.

I think John is after a new Porsche.” She added: “We’ve found that property up there is not much cheaper than down here.”

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers